Folly
by Deandra
Summary: Just before turning sixteen, Theodwyn seeks a bit of adventure. ONESHOT. Part 40 of the Elfwine Chronicles.


**_Part 40 of the Elfwine Chronicles. The Elfwine Chronicles are a series of one-shots built around the family group of Eomer, Lothiriel and Elfwine. The total number will depend on how many ideas I get for new vignettes._**

_A/N: **WARNING! THIS TAKES PLACE BEFORE ACCEPTANCE!** It may not make sense if you think it comes later - think of this as a bit of a prequel._

_Replies to Reviewers of Acceptance at bottom._

**Folly **

**(Sep, 24 IV)**

"Well, well, what have we here – a pretty little girl. A young one, at that, but they're even more pleasing, eh, boys?" The two men with him snickered as they leered lewdly at Theodwyn.

Trying to swallow her terror, she told them in a quavering voice, "I do not desire your company. Please, just leave me alone."

"Heh, heh, hear that boys? The little lady wants to be left alone! Now, now, little missy, don't be scared. We'll be gentle. Soon you'll know what it feels like to be a woman!" He wiped his sweaty hand on his shirt and then reached for Theodwyn.

Suddenly a hand gripped his wrist like a band of steel and he turned to find a sword at his throat. "If you wish to keep your hands, I strongly urge you not to lay so much as a finger on her!" Freawine hissed. He shoved the man roughly into his drunken companions, and signaled for Theodwyn to come to him.

"Here, now! What business is this of yours? Want the little girl for yourself, do you? We'll share!" The man took a step toward Freawine, but was again met by the blade of his sword.

"I am making it my business, seeing as how she is my sister. Now, you can turn and walk away, or I can kill you and be done with it!"

The man staggered back into his friends. "No need for that. Didn't know it was your sister," the man mumbled as he and his friends moved away, in search of other prey.

Once they were gone, Freawine turned on Theodwyn. "What are you doing in a place like this?" he demanded.

Her fright easing, Theodwyn retorted, "I might ask you the same thing!" She was unprepared for the flash of anger in his eyes, and he caught her roughly by the elbow, steering her to the counter.

"How much is a room for the night?" he asked the bartender.

The man eyed them, then told him the amount, which Freawine suspected was far more than he usually charged. Not bothering to argue, he slapped the coins down on the counter and took the offered key. Once again he towed Theodwyn with him and rejoined his companions, who were watching him with some alarm, especially once they realized who was with him.

Keeping a firm grip on Theodwyn, he bent down and said softly to Dengel, "Find Garod and tell him I have taken a room with the king's daughter. I need to speak with him at once."

"A room? Are you mad? You'll be slaughtered when the king finds out!" Dengel hissed.

Freawine gripped his throat with his free hand, "Not to do anything inappropriate, you idiot! Now go find Garod!"

Theodwyn couldn't hear their conversation, but it was making her uneasy having the other men sneaking glances at her and then at Freawine. And she had never really seen Freawine angry before. She wasn't sure whether he was angry with her or with the men who had accosted her.

When he finished speaking with Dengel, he again pulled her along and headed up the stairs. Catching some of the sounds emanating from the rooms, even she could figure out what activities were taking place behind the closed doors and she could not restrain a blush.

A moment later, Freawine opened a door near the end of the hall and almost threw her in. Locking the door behind him, he turned on her, "What in the world are you doing here, Theodwyn? Have you gone completely mad?" He didn't seem to notice or care that he was shouting at her, but for the first time this evening she was beginning to understand what a mistake she had made.

Trying to be calmer, Freawine demanded, "Why are you here?"

Deflating a bit, Theodwyn sat on the side of the bed, the only furniture in the room besides a small table. Though she knew it would sound rather lame, she murmured, "I just wanted a little adventure. Is that so wrong?"

"Adventure! Theodwyn, do you understand what those men had in mind to do to you? If I had not stopped them, they likely would have succeeded in forcing themselves on you! There are few in this place that would have paid any attention to your screams for help!"

She looked up at him a bit defiantly, "Do you think I cannot defend myself? I am a shieldmaiden!"

He advanced on her in anger, "This is not a sparring ring, you silly girl! A shieldmaiden does not willfully put herself in danger, and then _hope_ she can fight her way out of it! Your sword was not drawn, and they were too close for you to have done so before they overpowered you!"

As the realization of what he was saying began to sink in, Theodwyn's eyes filled with tears, and it did not help to see the fear in Freawine's eyes as he looked at her. Suddenly she understood that he was not just trying to frighten her; that she had been in real danger downstairs.

Fighting for calm, Freawine asked again, "Why did you not at least go to a reputable inn for the night? Was not sneaking to Aldburg enough of an adventure for you?"

"I…I did not bring enough money with me," she admitted.

They were interrupted by a knock at the door, and instantly Freawine drew his sword, calling out, "Who is it?"

Through the thin wood he heard Garod identify himself and quickly moved to open it, stepping halfway into the hall so Theodwyn would not hear the conversation. He informed Garod of the circumstances and his intent to sleep there tonight, both to protect her and to keep her from trying to sneak away in the night. Garod looked disapproving, but knew that Freawine was a family friend. They agreed to meet at first light and escort the girl home, and Garod said he would send a messenger tonight to let the king know that she was safe.

Once he was gone, Freawine turned back to the room and stood staring at Theodwyn a few moments. Finally, he told her, "Get some sleep. We ride at first light."

"Where…where are you going to sleep?" she asked him hesitantly.

"Here on the floor, in front of the door – so no one may enter…or leave," he replied.

She nodded and removed her boots, then slipped under the thin sheets on the bed, that did not feel very clean. Freawine left the single candle burning, and laid out his cloak on the floor, setting his sword close at hand. Theodwyn watched him in the dim light, tears still slipping silently down her cheeks.

After several moments had passed, she called softly, "Freawine, please do not hate me. I am sorry I caused so much trouble."

There was silence for a spell, and she began to think he was already asleep, but at length he told her quietly, "I could never hate you, Theodwyn. I was just…worried." There was another pause, then he reiterated, "Get some sleep."

xxxxx

Theodwyn did not spend a restful night. She was not entirely sure there were not bugs in the bedding, and her mind twisted the earlier events into frightening scenarios all the night long. She awoke almost as tired as when she had gone to bed. From the look of it, Freawine was no more rested than she, and she wondered if he had lain awake all night standing watch over her.

They splashed a bit of water onto their faces, from the jug on the table, and hurried downstairs, where the landlord was complaining under his breath at being roused to fix a breakfast so early. When finally he brought bowls of mush and set them before the two guests, Theodwyn eyed it distastefully. "This looks awful," she mumbled.

"Perhaps. But it is all the food you will get between here and Edoras, so I suggest you eat up," Freawine told her dispassionately.

She wasn't used to this sort of treatment, especially from Freawine, and she almost made a rude remark about it, but seeing the look on his face, she thought better of it and fell to choking down the food.

From then on through the day, Freawine treated her like a stranger. He gave her instructions in clipped tones, but he made no conversation and was excruciatingly polite whenever he spoke to her. The other two men assigned to accompany them back to Edoras followed his example, and Theodwyn thought she might as well be travelling with foreigners who did not speak the language. After a few failed attempts to get Freawine to talk to her, and treat her the way he usually did, she finally gave up and rode silently along beside him.

The closer they got to Edoras, the more nervous she got. If Freawine had been angry with her, it was certain her father would be outraged. The jaunt to Aldburg had seemed amusing yesterday; a fine adventure. Now it just seemed a dangerous and stupid outing, and she was very much regretting her folly.

She would have tended her own horse, but Freawine caught her elbow and said, "Come with me, my lady." It was clear he would brook no argument, so she meekly turned her horse over to a stable hand and followed him along. After a short distance, he dropped his hand from her arm.

Her parents were waiting in the Golden Hall, and it was immediately evident to her that her mother had been crying. Her father's expression was clouded and it was difficult to tell what he was feeling, or what he might say or do to her. They came to a stop in front of the king, and Theodwyn stood with eyes lowered.

Finally, Eomer spoke, "Freawine, come with me. I would speak with you in private." He turned on his heel and led the way to his study. Freawine swallowed hard, but fell in behind him, not noticing the worried look Theodwyn cast after them.

Once the door was closed, Eomer turned to face the young man, "Tell me what happened."

Freawine nodded and recounted what he knew of the matter, the king listening intently.

When he finished, the king's eyes narrowed. "And where did you spend the night after taking my daughter to this 'room'?"

Freawine met his gaze. "I stayed with her, my lord. I did not think it safe to leave her there without a guard. But I assure you that I did nothing inappropriate, and I slept on the floor in front of the door."

Eomer's mouth twitched at that. "So none could get in or so none could get out?"

Freawine half smiled in return. "Both, my lord. I know Theodwyn rather well."

"So it would seem." Eomer paced the room for a few moments, then turned back to Freawine. "I cannot say I am pleased at the news you spent the night in the same room as my daughter, but under the circumstances, I can see that it was likely warranted. And I do appreciate your insuring her safe return. She was…unharmed?"

Freawine nodded. "Yes, my lord. I believe the first efforts against her were made after I had arrived, and I was able to intervene."

Eomer sighed, "Thank the Valar for that. And my sincerest thanks to you, Freawine. If anything had happened…" Their eyes met, and Eomer knew the young man understood his feelings.

"You may leave. I am sure Garod wishes you to return as soon as possible. Again, thank you for bringing her safely back to us." He caught the man's shoulder in a firm grip of gratitude.

xxxxx

When Freawine returned to the Golden Hall, Theodwyn was still there, and her mother stood nearby. Likely it would now be her turn to talk to her parents.

He gave her a small smile and moved toward the exit, but an instant later she was beside him and caught at his arm. "Freawine…thank you. I…I truly am sorry."

He lifted his eyes to meet her gaze and said softly, "Just promise me you will never do such a thing again. I could not bear to see you…harmed."

She flung her arms around his neck and exclaimed, "I promise!"

Slowly he returned the embrace briefly, then pulled free. "I must go." He glanced back to where her parents stood waiting. With a quirk of his mouth, he nodded in their direction and added, "Good luck…"

THE END

_Replies to reviewers of Acceptance:_

_Elwen of Lorien - "I anticipate the following stories that will spin off of this. There are many possiblities." Yes, there are! And I began working on some more in yet another story. I may have to do a subset of the Elfwine Chronicles called the Theodwyn Chronicles! But not to worry – I still adore Elfwine and he will continue to make cameos in Theodwyn's stories, and I will get back to focusing on him more as soon as I get some of these other stories out of my system. I have several ideas that I don't know are long enough to be stand-alones, but I'm not sure how they will work stuck together. And we haven't seen the last of Haman._

_Jazzcat – "I agree with Eomer; Freawine has no idea what he's in for. :-P Theodwyn's a loose cannon!" – You'd think Eomer would be better able to deal with her after growing up with Eowyn! _

_Julia – "But are they really going to make them wait 5 whole years to get married?" – We'll see! If Theodwyn can do some maturing and behave herself, I think Mom will talk Dad into letting them marry sooner. If she doesn't, Freawine will likely welcome lots of missions!_

_shie1dmaidenofrohan – "I was a bit thrown off at the beginning by the elopement plan-- it seemed rather out of the blue." Sorry, about that! Actually, that was the first thing I wrote of this, and it was supposed to begin there and continue to the end, but then I figured I needed to do something about how they got to discussing marriage since they were last seen as "brother and sister". I almost hesitated to put the two parts together in the story because they were do different, and there was the POV change, but the first two chapters gave more sense to Ch. 3, and Ch. 3 was somewhat needed to let you know what happened after Ch. 2. And, yes, Theodwyn is very impulsive and doesn't think things through (as her mother noted)._

_Tracey – "Theodwyn is so full of spirit it's hard to tell if she possesses any reserve at all!" – Theodwyn has grown up in a relatively safe world – at least she hasn't personally seen much of the danger. I think a bit more reserve will come with a bit more life experience. In that sense, Lothiriel is right – Theodwyn needs Freawine to save her from herself! _

_Blue Eyes At Night – "how many more daughters do u have after this?" – only one more, but she probably too easy after this! Morwen is a proper little lady and will probably do everything by the book, and Eomer will be bored! _

_lady scribe of avandell – funny you should mention 'sneaking'_

**_End note: It is not essential that you read the Elfwine Chronicles in the order they were written, but there is an advantage to doing so. The more of them that I wrote, the more likely I was to make reference to one of the previous ones and something that happened there. If you want to read them in order, go to the top of this page and click on my name (Deandra). That will take you to my profile page. Scroll down and you will find all the stories I have written. The Elfwine Chronicles are in order from bottom to top since ffn shows them in the order they were posted. A few were posted out of number order (#15 came after #17, I think), but you can read them in posting order or number order since those few won't be affected in the story content. _**


End file.
